Over the weekend, I had an opportunity to do a different kind of drinking and traveling...tea time in Lusaka! Ever since I experienced high tea in Dubai, I've been a huge fan of tea time. It's a nice way to enjoy an afternoon with friends, hold your pinkies in the air while drinking tea, eating sandwiches with the crusts cut off, and feel like proper ladies.
Upon arrival, I was very impressed with the ambiance of Taste By Rootz. They have a fabric and wallpaper library, an adjacent shop with various household wares and jewelry, an outside patio area, and even a small pool for an afternoon swim. The grounds were green with trees and flowers, giving it a nice garden flair. It was a nice escape from the bustling Lusaka streets.
Once we sat down, our waitress passed around and explained some of the teas available to drink. We smelled each tea and were able to choose our favorite to enjoy for the table, in addition to others available on the menu.
We enjoyed the Moroccan Mint, Winter Almond, Rooibos Vanilla, Pomegranate Citrus, Love Me Tender and a few others. All were delicious and true to their names.
Our waitress then brought out our individual platters for lunch. On the menu was egg salad, chicken salad, cucumber and salmon sandwiches. The tiers above had our desserts for the day, including a lemon tart, mixed fruit tart, peanut butter and chocolate scone, lemon cupcake, chocolate cake, and two scones with homemade apple and tomatillo jams as accompaniments.
What I loved about tea time at Rootz was that we all received individual servings, which is different than other teas I've attended. We weren't forced to share or play Rock, Paper, Scissors to decide who got the last chicken sandwich. And because the food was bite sized, we had a chance to taste everything and even traded amongst ourselves for our personal favorites.
I highly recommend tea time at Taste By Rootz. At K175 (about $18), you can't beat a quality afternoon spent with friends, enjoying delicious food and sipping scrumptious teas.